"We’re good at what we do,” reads the back of a Youngstown State swimming shirt, but Youngstown wasn’t good enough to come around on top against Ohio Friday.
The Bobcats defeated the Penguins 164-126 to win their sixth-straight dual meet and to stay undefeated in 2013. Although Ohio coach Greg Werner completely changed his normal lineup to gather more information for the conference championship meet at the end of the month, the Penguins couldn’t take advantage, as they won only four of sixteen events.
“We had a lot of nice races and they competed very well,” Werner said.
He also criticized the team, however, saying that the Bobcats weren’t consistent throughout the meet.
“In the second half of the competition I thought we were a little bit better than the first half," he said. "They need to get their focus in earlier in the meet.”
Keeping the focus wasn’t easy for the Bobcats, as they started the meet with an easy first and second place finish in the 400-yard medley relay. Only a race later distance standout Laurin Williams finished the 1000-yard freestyle event in 10:21.71 minutes – 34 seconds before any Youngstown swimmer touched the wall.
“The whole idea behind this race was see how I felt, see how far I can go,” Williams said.
Despite feeling bad for the other swimmers, she never stopped competing and tried to stay motivated throughout the race.
“I see Greg a lot of times and he tells me to keep my pace,” she said.
Nine events later, Williams found herself in an unusual race, as she competed in the 200-yard breaststroke, which she said was probably her first time competing in that event in four years.
She wasn’t the only one in unusual territory Friday.
Senior Lauren Funk altered from her usual freestyle events, by swimming the 100-yard breaststroke for only the fourth time this season. Sophomore Steph Gyurke swam her first 100-yard butterfly in her college career and even to Werner’s surprise finished first.
“In my mind it was a phenomenal swim," Werner said. "I believe it was a lifetime best.”
It was exactly what he was hoping for, as many swimmers still try to find their third event for the Mid-American Conference Championships at the end of the month.
“I don’t know if she (will compete in the butterfly at the MAC championships) or not but it gives us something to think about,” Werner said, adding that he gathered a lot of information about every swimmer Friday, but will go back to using the usual lineup again against Miami Saturday.
Saturday might also have been the reason the swimmers weren’t as focused as Werner had liked.
“Today was more of a practice meet,” sophomore Haleigh Bartlett said. “But everybody has to be turned on tomorrow – including the swimmers.”
It won’t be easy for the Bobcats to overcome a RedHawks team that is ranked better in 16 out of 19 possible swimming events and Werner sees as the favorite for the MAC championship. But the Bobcast gathered enough confidence Friday to make anything happen the next time they take the pool.
am794811@ohiou.edu
